Is Vince Young Still the Future of the Tennessee Titans?

After two straight weak showings to end the 2009 NFL season, Vince Young has some explaining to do. Or, more importantly, some more doubters to prove wrong.

Young took the league by storm with a sensational rookie season in 2006, when he scored 19 total touchdowns (seven rushing) and guided the Titans to an 8-8 record following a six-game winning streak near the end of the season.

He followed it up with an inconsistent sophomore season from a statistical standpoint, but was still effective in leading the Titans to the playoffs.

Then came the saga that Tennessee and Vince Young followers know all too well, where Young was playing poorly in last season's opener, asked to sit the remainder of the game, and then sustained a knee injury that eventually knocked him out of the game.

Suicide talk followed, along with an apparent loss of passion and confidence, and Young was shown to the bench of the remainder of the 2008 season, and forced to watch as veteran Kerry Collins led the surprising Titans to a remarkable 10-0 start, and an eventual 13-3 record, as well as a division championship.

However, the football Gods were gracious to Young, giving him one last chance after Collins couldn't get anything going this season, and an 0-6 start for the Titans had Young right back where he started; with a shot at proving his doubters wrong.

Young responded with some of the best football of his career, as he guided (with a lot of help from Chris Johnson) lead the Titans on an impressive five-game winning streak, until they lost their seventh game of the season by the hands of the then undefeated Indianapolis Colts.

Tennessee's playoff hopes still remained intact after that game and were only truly destroyed when Young (and the rest of the Titans) had a forgettable game against the much superior San Diego Chargers.

But this isn't news. We knew Young had a winner's attitude all along, and judging by his history prior to last season's benching, he was already having some success at the pro level.

He did more than just win games this time around, however, as he relied more on his pocket passing abilities (which are improving), and his ability to read defenses better.

His improved passing abilities were best exhibited in an impressive performance (huge understatement) against the Arizona Cardinals, in which he led his offense 99 yards down the field in the final minutes and threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Kenny Britt as time expired.

He also ended the game with a career-high 387 yards through the air.

If that wasn't impressive enough, Young converted three fourth downs on that drive, none of which were done by the use of his legs.

This showed true growth in Young's ability to take over a game with his arm, making him a more feared quarterback.

Young furthered this notion three games later in a big game with playoff implications against the Miami Dolphins, where he threw for three touchdowns and 236 yards.

The scary thing is, if Tennessee had even won one more game, this could be a completely different article. Young could be in the playoffs, and his story could still be evolving.

But as it stands, Young (who was declared the 2010 starter by Jeff Fisher) will once again have to start from scratch, and prove he belongs in the NFL.

The question remains; does he have what it takes?

From a professional perspective, there really isn't any question about his ability to lead a football team. He's led comebacks, both with his feet and his arm, and as the starter, he's never finished worse than 8-8.

With new weapons such as rookie receiver Kenny Britt and tight end Jared Cook (who should be used more next season), the future looks bright for Young, regardless of his nay-sayers' nit-picking.

We can't bypass the progress he and the offense made in the 10 games following the horrid 0-6 start, and any sensible fan of the NFL also can't ignore his two weak performances to end the 2009 season.

But that's the story of a young quarterback. Vince Young was a project when he was drafted, and while he's far from a finished product, he's made the strides necessary for the team to instill a strong vote of confidence in him.

Has he earned the right to be called Tennessee's starting quarterback for the 2010 NFL season? There's no doubt about it.

But has he earned the right to be called their franchise quarterback? Quite literally, only time will tell.

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